TEACHING
I teach poetry to teens and adults during small group sessions, with a focus on ekphrasis, place-based writing, and the relationship between the visual arts and the literary imagination. My teaching practice grows directly from the questions at the heart of my collection-in-progress, Paragones: what do artists have to teach poets and what can artists learn from poets? For workshop and course-related inquiries, contact me at kctrommer@gmail.com.
Current & Recent Teaching
Poets House, New York, NY City Poet: Writing Ekphrasis — Four-week workshop (2025) An inquiry-based workshop exploring ekphrasis as a mode of translation between the visual and the literary. Sessions held at Poets House and on-site at the Museum of Modern Art. — Learn more
Poets House Teen Academy, New York, NY Writing Ekphrasis — Seminar (2025) Ekphrasis seminar for high school poets at the Shirley Fitterman Art Center. Students worked with Susan Weil's Soft Landscape to collaboratively compose a cento — a "patchwork" poem built from each poet's contribution. — Read about the Academy
17th Annual English Scholars Program Conference, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY Turning Art into Poems: Ekphrasis Workshop (2026) A generative workshop for high school students introducing ekphrasis through model poems by Auden, Trethewey, and Komunyakaa, followed by site-responsive writing from selected artworks.
University Teaching
NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York, NY City Poet — Undergraduate course (Fall 2022) A course exploring urban place as poetic subject and method, developed during KC's residency on Governors Island.
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA Writing Program — Adjunct Faculty (2018–2019)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Graduate Student Instructor — Poetry, Fiction, and Composition (2005–2007)
Earlier Teaching
Poets House, New York, NY You Are Here: Writing Poems of Place — Workshop (2019)
Catapult, New York, NY Poetry workshops (2019, 2020)
Bard High School Early College Queens, Long Island City, NY English Department Faculty and Writing & Thinking Workshop (2009–2010)
On Ekphrasis
Ekphrasis — from the Greek ek ("out") and phrazein ("to speak") — is the act of giving voice to something mute. Art made of art. In KC's workshops, students learn that ekphrasis is first an act of reception: you are the instrument, the ambassador, the translator. The poem is born from a work of art, but must stand on its own.
This approach — moving between close looking, questioning, and writing — is at the center of both her teaching and Paragones, her collection in progress, which responds to works by female-identifying artists including Louise Bourgeois, Ruth Asawa, Ana Mendieta, Kara Walker, and Agnes Martin.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY
“I loved this class. It woke me up to my love of writing again. The writers KC introduced us to I wouldn’t have found or learned as much from if not for her.”
“Through this course, I was able to learn a lot about myself as a writer. KC was an extraordinary teacher—she cares a lot about the students—always friendly, funny, and willing to help and she inspired me to take writing from a small to a great interest. Her comments were always very helpful. She got to know all of us well.”
“I started to form my own voice in poetry thanks to this class. KC was always prepared, extremely enthusiastic, and loves to listen to what students have to say. What I liked most about this course was how much I learned about poetry and how I was able to see my poetry improve over the course of the semester.”
“This class really pushed me and really helped me develop as a writer. KC was great at encouraging students to reach their fullest potential and to find their own strengths and weaknesses and unique style.”
One-on-one Sessions
I love working directly with poets as they think about the work they’re creating or that they wish to create. During the summer of 2026, I will accept a handful of private clients for those individuals interested in one-hour sessions with feedback on poems. One hour sessions are $100; book five for $475. Please contact me for details and availability.